July 2013

The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) has called on African Countries to invest in technology as one way of curbing illicit Capital flows from the continent.

“Electronic systems play a huge role in curbing corruption and by extension illicit flows,” ATAF Executive Secretary Logan Wort told Journalists during a recent media briefing in Pretoria, South Africa.

However, Wort cautioned that the systems cannot entirely stop illicit flows arguing that when people intend to break the law they can do it.

“Illicit is by very nature illicit and it will always be there,” said.

Illicit financial flows refer to a form of illegal capital flight and occur when money is illegally earned, transferred, or spent. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of illicit financial flows outside of a country generally do not return to the country of origin.

The International Press Institute has condemned in strongest possible terms the recent passage of amendments to The Gambia’s Information and Communication Act, which will severely hamper press freedom, especially on the Internet, and have a strong chilling effect on journalists’ efforts to scrutinise their government. IPI urges lawmakers in The Gambia to repeal these amendments, which violate international commitments on freedom of expression.

Amendments to the Information and Communication Act, passed by The Gambia’s National Assembly on July 5, criminalises any individual in the country or abroad who: disseminates “false news” about the Gambian government or public officials, incites dissatisfaction or instigates violence against the government, or caricatures or otherwise makes derogatory statements against public officials on the Internet.

Africell, the leading GSM operator in The Gambia, on Friday 19th July embarked on a free mega rice distribution campaign to the Gambian population, which took place at its head office along Kairaba Avenue.

Over ten thousand people from all walks of life converged at the Aricell head office to collect a 4 kilo gram bag of clean rice, facilitated by Africell staff.

Speaking to journalists during the distribution process, Musa Sise media consultant for Africell, said Africell has always had the Gambian public at heart, and this event is a continuing manifestation of the company’s stance in sharing with the general public.

The upward spiral in the number of road accidents in the country is a grave cause for alarm.

Earlier in April, we reported a road accident which claimed the lives of four people along the Senegambia Highway. Now, as reported in our today’s paper, another road accident in Tanene village in the Kombo East district of the West Coast Region on Saturday, has claimed the lives of five people.

Hardly a week passes now, without hearing of at least two or three serious road accidents.

Almost everyone has been affected by such accidents, at one time or the other, because a relative or friend is somehow connected to such accidents.

While there was a reduction in the number of road accidents sometime ago, recent developments indicate that there is a large increase in the number of such accidents.

Everyone in this country would quite agree that the number of motor vehicles is increasing day by day.

Access Bank The Gambia on Friday presented thirty-nine bags of cement to Tallinding Annex Lower Basic School to support the ongoing construction of a dinning hall for the school.

The official presentation of the cement was attended by senior officials of the bank and the school administration.

Speaking on behalf of Access Bank management, Abdouramani Saye, Head of Retail Banking at the Serrekunda branch, said Access Bank as part of its core values for education, decided to give a helping hand to the school.

The Lebanese-Gambians, through the AlhelAl-Bayt Islamic Association-The Gambia, last Fridaydistributed food and non-food items worth over two hundred and fifty thousand dalasi to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) formerly RVTH, as part of their annual Ramadan gesture in the country.

The gifts, which included rice, sugar, teabags, cooking oil, biscuits, milk and other items, were presented to patients, their escorts and hospital staff on duty at the time of the presentation.

The presentation of the gifts was led by the Imam of the Lebanese mosque in Pipeline, Imam Sheikh Rabih Farhat, accompanied by other members of the association and hospital staff.

Gambian international reggae singer, Sing-a-teh has already started working on his debut international album reports reaching What's On reveals.

The rising international music sensation no doubt is one of the most celebrated Gambian artistes of recent time. The Bansang born sensation is currently working with IDub Music in Germany and Hit City Records in Atlanta, Georgia are behind the production of this much anticipated masterpiece.

Meanwhile, IDub Music is exclusively responsible for financing the project. The German-based record label will also be responsible for the distribution of the album. "We have already started. The album will feature international artists like Naptali and Tony Anthony both from Jamaica. I will also enter studio with Lady Flame, also a Jamaican singer but based in the USA," said Sing-a-the told What's On.

Trade has proven to be a powerful engine of growth, and the theme of the 2013 AGOA Forum is Sustainable Transformation through Trade and Technology. Private sector and civil society programs will take place August 10-11, preceding the two-day ministerial in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, August 12-13.

A Nigerian judge in The Gambia shreds his career and his country's image on account of graft

A senior Nigerian judge serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the Gambia, Joseph Wowo, has been sacked for soliciting a N2.5 million (500,000 Dalasi) bribe from a Gambian-based Dutch businessman in return for a favourable judgment in a land dispute case, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.

Mr. Wowo, also a former President of the Gambia Court of Appeal, was caught on tape holding a surreptitious meeting with the former Gambian Justice Minister, Lamin Jobarteh (who has also been sacked), a Dutch national, André Klaarbergen, and his Nigerian Lawyer simply identified as Mene, negotiating the price of subverting the judgment of a Gambian High Court over a land dispute case, which Mr. Wowo agrees the Dutch rightly lost.